The Naivety of Youth

The narrow view of young people is portrayed in a humorous and sometimes serious way in the play. It is ironic that men on the brink of fighting a world war arrive at basic training with lunches packed by their mothers. Eugene admits that it is the first time he has been away from home and it is safe to assume that is the same for the other young men as well. They each enter the Army with their own set of narrow life experiences; they will be forced outside of their comfort zone in the coming months. Wykowski, for example, is extremely prejudiced but he is also uneducated. Epstein is naïve in believing that standing up for his dignity and self-respect will earn him any points in the military, even though it may have been the letter of the law where he was...